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Digital signage Q&A: Education edition

Digital signage covers a wide variety of verticals from education to retail to manufacturing. With the advent of more advanced tools in digital signage, such as interactivity, cloud-based content management solutions and analytical tools, more verticals can benefit from digital signage than ever before.

Digital Signage Today is starting a new monthly series where we do a Q&A with industry experts on key verticals in the digital signage market.

This month, we are exploring digital signage in the education vertical. The education vertical includes a wide variety of tools, such as advertising, wayfinding and interactive solutions.

Sharp Electronics, for example, recently deployed an interactive Aquos Board at the Peters Township School District in Washington County, Pennsylvania. This board allows students and teachers to draw on it and interact with key elements such as slides in a slideshow. This was part of an effort by the district to battle against education's low tech reputation.

So we reached out to industry expert Ian Crosby, vice president of sales and marketing for Zytronic, for a chat on some key considerations with this vertical.

DST: What special considerations do digital signage companies have to make when working in the education vertical?

Crosby: Signage in education has evolved into much more of an interactive medium. Simply displaying content is no longer sufficient — students and instructors now want the ability to interact with signage to control what’s displayed, and to offer interactive learning opportunities for students.

DST: What are some key hardware demands for educational digital signage?

Crosby: Signage used in education receives heavy use and may occasionally be the target of abuse and vandalism — therefore it’s critical the hardware be durable and able to withstand sustained and potentially destructive use.

DST: What are some of the best practices for educational digital signage and what are some potential pitfalls to avoid?

Crosby: Speaking specifically of interactivity, we encourage integrators and creative agencies to understand the true needs of their interactive signage. In particular, know the touchpoint requirements of a particular installation before specifying the hardware and software to support that installation. Installing a system with too few touchpoints will make it impossible for the signage to function as promised, whereas installing a system with too many touchpoints adds unnecessary cost and may overburden the hardware/software ecosystem powering the installation.